I haven't purchased a CGC comic since early September and the first possible next purchase would be early March but that in no way means I have given up my dream to have the best Captain Marvel Adventures comic collection. Quite the opposite. I have big plans this year but I have a strict budget and I dug myself a big hole with a monster purchase last year and I'm just now back in the black.

What I've been doing is reading a lot of Golden Age CMA stories available on ComicBookPlus.com to further acquaint myself with a character I've spent so much money on. I've also added a lot of story summaries to my issue descriptions. These probably aren't thrilling to read but it's fun to do and I've learned a lot more about Capt. Marvel.

As I read through the Golden Age comics some questions come up, some I've thought about in the past and some new ones that hadn't occurred to me so I thought I'd write them into my journal.

Although I haven't seen it expressly spelled out in the GA stories it's pretty clear that Capt. Marvel and Billy Batson are separate entities. This is not Billy expanding up into adult sized. So where did Capt. Marvel come from since he first arrived as an adult. He also immediately knew how and speak and integrated himself into the culture. This implies to me that Capt. Marvel and Billy share thoughts. In one story I read it seemed clear that Capt. Marvel doesn't somehow observe Billy when he's not around but when the two transform there is no moment of disorientation which means that when Marvel or Billy manifest they have the memories of their counterpart.

What's interesting to me is that although Billy transforms into a separate being (I believe this is no longer true in more recent stories) he appears to be the only member of the Marvel family that does this. Freddy Freeman and Mary Batson change clothing but their physical appearance remains close enough that I always assumed they were the same when they were Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel. Same with Black Adam (Teth-Adam) and the three Marvel Lieutenants. In the case of Teth-Adam he simply remained as Black Adam once he initially transformed. So why doesn't Freddy Freeman simply remain as Captain Marvel Jr. since as Freeman he is forced to use a cane because of injuries dealt to him by Captain Nazi. I understand why Billy changes back otherwise Billy would cease to exist but for Freeman and Mary they would look essentially the same except be invulnerable. Their main weakness is their vulnerability when Freddy and Mary.

Does Captain Marvel age? Billy only changes to Capt. Marvel when needed for as long as he's needed so when Billy is around does Marvel age? But the bigger question is, what is the deal with Billy? He's a twelve year boy yet he works for radio station WHIZ. And he's not an intern he actually has a daily broadcast. If Cap and Billy share a mind and Cap gets his understanding of the world from Billy it's not surprising that he doesn't act like a child because Billy doesn't act like a child. He seems entirely self-sufficient with no parents and no friends his age. About the only friend he seems to have in the GA is the past middle age Mr. Morris and later the talking tiger, Mr. Tawny.

These are just some of my musings. I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts.

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